Legend has it that Charley Boulware ’67 would do just about anything when he was in college, which made him the obvious choice to be the college’s first Terrier mascot.
During the mid 1960s, attendance was down at Wofford football games with students coming in late and leaving early. Dean of Students Philip Covington brought a Boston Terrier to the games, which sat patiently on its leash. Wofford ROTC commanders at the time, however, felt that the college needed more, and the “Terrible Terrier,” with Boulware beneath the mask, was born.
Boulware says the first mask was black and made of papier-mache by Converse College art student Winkie Ray. It was hot and didn’t have enough room for his nose.
“By the end of the games, the end of my nose would be raw,” he says. “The word crazy has come up as a way to describe me, but everybody’s gotta have their niche. I guess this was mine.”
Boulware’s antics as the first Terrier have been recounted at reunions through the years. Dr. Jim Proctor ’67, professor emeritus at Wofford, remembers a game against Appalachian State University. “Their mascot was a big mountaineer with a coonskin cap and rifle. Somehow, Charley snuck across the field and got his rifle. The mountaineer started chasing Charley, and Charley turned and pretended to shoot him. We lost the game pretty badly, so that scene was the highlight.”
Boulware has a “dim recollection” of climbing the goal post while the other team was driving. “Someone managed to get me down before I hurt myself,” he says. “I hope the statute of limitations has run out on the trouble I got myself into.”
Proctor says Boulware’s personality was the perfect fit for the college’s inaugural mascot.
“Charley’s father and grandfather were Wofford graduates. His father was a Methodist minister, and Charley was a preacher’s kid in every sense of the word,” says Proctor. “Many stories could be written about the college’s first mascot, but most should not. He was a rascal.”
Proctor also says Boulware was a hero. He earned two Bronze Star Medals with V device for valor during Vietnam.
“I’ve heard that it was the practice, whenever possible, for officers to only stay in the field for six months. Charley stayed with his men the whole year. That’s the kind of loyalty he has and the kind of person he is,” says Proctor.
These days Boulware is retired. He and his wife, Dianne, live in Sumter, S.C., but come to Spartanburg during the week to care for their 15-month-old grandson, Derham Cole III. Being so close to Wofford again allows Boulware to take in several football games a year and most home basketball games. He enjoys watching Boss, the current mascot.
“In the stands and on the field, he does a great job,” says Boulware.
by Jo Ann Mitchell Brasington ’89
Summer 2016